Management of dynamic events and moving objects

ABSTRACT

An embodiment of the invention includes a system, method and computer program product for managing dynamic events. The embodiment may include managing, by a first subsystem, an event in a first region of the plurality of geographic regions using a first event agent. The embodiment may include determining whether the event is predicted to spread from the first region to a second region. The embodiment may include generating a first dynamic event agent to monitor the event as a dynamic event based on predicting the event may spread from the first region to the second region. The first dynamic event agent may receive information relating to the dynamic event, update a status of the dynamic event based on the received information, and transmit the received information. The embodiment may include generating, by a second subsystem, a second dynamic event agent for handling the dynamic event in the second region.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to managing dynamic events and movingobjects in a geographic space.

A driver assistance system communicates with automobiles and/or otherapparatuses to collect information about roads, handles events occurringin a geographic space, and assists the automobiles to move in thegeographic space. Since a driver assistance system manages a largenumber of automobiles and events in a geographic space, it has toprocess a great deal of information. Since cars generally move at highspeed and require the latest information, it is desirable to completeall processes of a driving system within one server in order to minimizeprocessing time for individual automobiles.

However, as the geographic space being handled by such a system expands,the amount of information being transmitted and received increases dueto an increase in the number of automobiles and the number of roads, andthe corresponding requirements might exceed the processing power of asingle server. Even if the geographic space is divided and a pluralityof servers are used to process the regions resulting from the division,automobiles move at high speeds between the plurality of regions, andtherefore further communication between the servers is necessary, suchthat the communication load between servers increases. The increase ofthe communication load between the servers prevents the system fromprocessing each automobile in a short time. Therefore, a system toenable less communication load between servers and higher scalability isfurther needed for efficiently managing large scale geographic spaces.

Moreover, when a large-scale event occurs, such as an accident ornatural disaster that causes large-scale traffic congestion, a pluralityof the regions may be affected. At the occurrence of such a large-scaleevent, vast amounts of associated events may be generated, causingsystem load to suffer a rapid increase. Therefore, a system forefficiently processing large-scale events that affect a plurality ofregions is needed.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the invention includes a system, method and computerprogram product for managing dynamic events. The embodiment may includemanaging, by a first subsystem, an event in a first region of theplurality of geographic regions using a first event agent. Theembodiment may include determining whether the event is predicted tospread from the first region to a second region of the plurality orgeographic regions. The embodiment may include generating a firstdynamic event agent to monitor the event as a dynamic event based ondetermining that the event is predicted to leave the first region to thesecond region. The first dynamic event agent may receive informationrelating to the dynamic event, update a status of the dynamic eventbased on the received information, and transmit the receivedinformation. The embodiment may include generating, by a secondsubsystem, a second dynamic event agent for handling the dynamic eventin the second region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention and a map area corresponding to a geographic space managed bythe system 100.

FIG. 2 shows a subsystem 200 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention and a map area corresponding to a region A managed by thesubsystem 200.

FIG. 3 shows a first exemplary configuration of the system 100 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows management of events by the event server 210 and the mobileobject server 220 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows management of moving object by the mobile object server 220and object server 230 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 shows an operational flow of an exemplary configuration of thesystem 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an example operational flow of S620 of the operational flowof FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows an example operational flow of S650 of the operational flowof FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative example of an event list.

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative example of a candidate event list.

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative example of a notification event list.

FIG. 12 shows a moving object 10 and events according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows an example operational flow of S660 of the operationalflow of FIG. 6.

FIG. 14 shows an event server 210 of the system 100 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows an example operational flow of the event server 210 shownin FIG. 14 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 shows an example operational flow of a dynamic event agentexecuted by the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 shows an example operational flow of a dynamic event agentexecuted by the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 shows an example operational flow of the event server 210 shownin FIG. 14 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 shows an example operational flow of a dynamic event agentexecuted by the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 shows an example operational flow of a dynamic event agentexecuted by the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 shows example contents of the dynamic event status storage 1451of a dynamic event agent.

FIG. 22 shows example contents of the local DEA information storage 1420of an event server 210 executing a plurality of dynamic event agents.

FIG. 23 shows example contents of the DEA registry 1457 of a dynamicevent agent.

FIGS. 24A-C show a series of communications between and resulting statesof dynamic event agents handling a dynamic event according to anembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 24A illustrates a state after“Region C DEA*” has issued DEA generation requests to event servers 210of the subsystems 200 assigned to regions B and D. FIG. 24B illustratesa state after the state shown in FIG. 24A and after “Region B DEA” hasissued a DEA generation request to an event server 210 of the subsystem200 assigned to region A. FIG. 24C illustrates a state after the stateshown in FIG. 24B, after the dynamic event has stopped occurring inregions A and D, and after “Region C DEA*” has issued notifications tothe event servers of all dynamic event agents in the registry 1457 thatthe dynamic event is no longer occurring in region C, which is theregion of the source DEA.

FIG. 25 shows a second exemplary configuration of the system 100according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 shows an example of a computer 2600 in which the system 100 andthe subsystem of FIG. 2, the operational flows of FIGS. 6-8, 13, and15-20, and/or other embodiments of the claimed invention may be whollyor partly embodied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, example embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed. The embodiments should not be construed as limiting the scopeof the invention, which is defined by the claims. The combinations offeatures described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential tothe invention.

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 and a map area corresponding to a geographicspace managed by the system 100, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The system 100 manages a geographic space thatincludes routes on which a moving object 10 moves. The system 100 isoperable to divide the geographic space into a plurality of regions andmanage these regions. A moving object 10 may move on routes includingland routes, sea routes, and/or air routes, for example. The geographicspace may be land, sea, or air space that includes the routes on whichthe moving object travels. The moving objects 10 may be manned/unmannedautomobiles, motorbikes, bicycles, humans having a digital device,airplanes, vessels, drones, or the like.

FIG. 1 shows an automobile as an example of the moving object 10, whichmoves along roads as examples of land routes. The system 100 includes aplurality of subsystems 200 that respectively manage the plurality ofregions. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the map area is divided intosix regions from region A to region F, and six subsystems 200respectively manage these six regions.

System 100 comprises a plurality of event servers 210, a plurality ofmobile object servers 220, a plurality of object servers 230, and aplurality of passenger servers 240. According to the embodiment of FIG.1, each of the subsystems 200 may include at least one of the pluralityof event servers 210 and one of the plurality of mobile object servers220.

The plurality of event servers 210 manage events occurring in each ofthe regions of the geographic space. In one embodiment, the event server210 of subsystem 200 assigned to region A may manage events in region A.The plurality of mobile object servers 220, respectively assigned to aplurality of regions in a geographic space, manage the moving objects 10in each of the plurality of regions. In one embodiment, the mobileobject server 220 assigned to region A may manage moving objects 10located in region A. The object server 230 manages information of themoving objects 10 regardless of the location of the moving objects 10.The passenger server 240 manages information of at least one passengerriding in the moving objects 10.

Each of the subsystems 200 may be implemented on one or more servers. Inone embodiment, each event server 210 and mobile object server 220 maybe implemented on one server. In one embodiment, a set of an eventserver 210 and a mobile object server 220 in a subsystem 200 may beimplemented by one server. Portions of the system 100 other than thesubsystems 200 may also be implemented on one or more servers. In oneembodiment, each object server 230 and passenger server 240 may beimplemented on one server. In another embodiment, a set of objectservers 230 and a set of passenger servers 240 may be each implementedby one server. In yet another embodiment, all of the object servers 230and the passenger servers 240 may be implemented on one server. Theseservers may exist at any point on a network including the Internet, asubscriber network, a cellular network, or a desired combination ofnetworks. The servers may be computers or other types of dataprocessors, and may be dedicated servers, or may be shared servers thatperform other operations.

The system 100 acquires the positions of a moving object 10 from themoving object 10, and the mobile object server 220 managing the regionthat includes the acquired position of the moving object 10 may managethe movement of this moving object 10. The system 100 acquiresinformation of events that have occurred to the moving object 10 and/oron the road outside, and the event server 210 managing the regionincluding the position where such an event has occurred may manage thestate of the event.

This event may include information about accidents, obstructions,closure, limitation, status, or construction on the road, or informationabout the weather, temperature, buildings, shops, or parking lots nearthe road. In response to a setting or a request from the moving object10, the subsystem 200 may provide notification about the eventinformation to the moving object 10 that made the request. For example,if the moving object 10 is moving on a route in a geographical areacorresponding to region A, then the mobile object sever 220 managingregion A provides this moving object 10 with the notification about theevent relating to the route.

Since the map area is divided into a plurality of regions, despite themoving object 10 simply moving on a route, the region corresponding tothe position of the moving object 10 might change. FIG. 1 shows anexample in which the moving object 10 is driving on a road such that theposition of the moving object 10 moves from region A to region B. Inthis case, according to the movement of the moving object 10, the system100 may transfer the information concerning the moving object 10 fromthe mobile object server 220 managing region A to the mobile objectserver 220 managing region B, and may also transfer the management ofthe moving object 10 to the mobile object server 220 managing region B.

FIG. 2 shows a subsystem 200 and a map area corresponding to a region Amanaged by the subsystem 200, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The event server 210 manages at least one event agent, andexecutes each event agent to manage events on routes in a regionassigned to the event server 210. An “agent” may be a software entityhaving specific data, and may be operable to receive a message (e.g.command), and return a result of the message. Each region of theplurality of regions of geographic space includes at least a portion ofone area of the plurality of areas. In this embodiment, the regionassigned to the event server 210 is the same as the region assigned tothe mobile object server 220. However, in other embodiments, theseregions may be different.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the region A, which is the region assignedto the event server 210, is divided into 16 areas and 16 areas areassigned to each of the event agents EA1-EA16. The event server 210executes each of the event agents EA1-EA16 to manage events occurring onroutes of each area of region A. For example, the event agent EA2 maymanage a “closure” event on an area corresponding to EA2 on the map, andthe event agent EA4 may manage a “speed limit” event on an areacorresponding to EA4 as shown in FIG. 2.

The plurality of mobile object servers 220 may include at least onemobile object server 220 including one or more mobile object agents,each of which is assigned to a moving object 10. In the embodiment ofFIG. 2, the mobile object server 220 includes three mobile object agentsMOAs 1-3 assigned to three moving objects 10 in the assigned region A.The mobile object server 220 executes each of the mobile object agentsMOA1-MOA3 to manage the moving objects 10 traveling on the region A.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary configuration of the system 100, according toan embodiment of the present invention. The system 100 may be operableto communicate with each of a plurality of moving objects 10 to send andreceive the information used to manage the moving objects 10. The system100 may be operable to acquire map data and/or information exchangedwith the moving objects 10, through the Internet, a subscriber network,a cellular network, or any desired combination of networks. The system100 includes an acquiring section (i.e., module) 110, a dividing section130, a region manager 140, a receiving section 150, a transmittingsection 152, a gateway apparatus 160, a plurality of subsystems 200, aplurality of object servers 230, and a plurality of passenger servers240.

The acquiring section 110 may be operable to acquire map datacorresponding to the geographical areas where a moving object 10 ispositioned, from an external database 30, for example. In response tothe map being updated, the acquiring section 110 may acquire some or allof the updated map data. The acquiring section 110 may be operable toacquire the map data from the Internet, a subscriber network, a cellularnetwork, or any desired combination of networks. The system 100 may beoperable to store the map data in advance.

The acquiring section 110 may further acquire an event that has occurredwithin the geographic space to be managed by the system 100. In thiscase, the acquiring section 110 may acquire accident information,traffic information, weather information, time information, etc.

The dividing section 130 may be operable to communicate with theacquiring section 110 and divide the map area into a plurality ofregions. In this embodiment, the dividing section 130 generates twogroups of regions by dividing an original map area into a plurality ofregions.

The region manager 140 may be operable to store information concerningthe plurality of regions including the regions resulting from thedivision. The region manager 140 may be operable to specify thesubsystem 200 managing the region that includes the position of themoving object 10, in response to receiving the position of the movingobject 10. The region manager 140 may be implemented on one or moreservers.

The storage section 142 may be operable to communicate with the dividingsection 130 and store information concerning the plurality of firstregions and the plurality of second regions resulting from the divisionby the dividing section 130. The storage section 142 may store settingvalues or the like of the system 100.

The storage section 142 may store intermediate data, calculationresults, threshold values, parameters, and the like that are generatedby or used in the operations of the system 100. In response to a requestfrom any component within the system 100, the storage section 142 maysupply the data stored therein to the component making the request. Thestorage section 142 may be a computer readable storage medium such as anelectric storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storagedevice, an electromagnetic storage device, or a semiconductor storagedevice.

The determining section 146 may be operable to communicate with thestorage section 142, and determine one region from the plurality ofregions (e.g., regions A-F of FIG. 1) in which each of the movingobjects 10 is located based on the position information of the movingobject 10 and geographic information of the plurality of regions. Thedetermining section 146 may identify a route or position in the map areamanaged by the system 100 that corresponds to the position informationof the moving object 10.

The determining section 146 may store the position information of thismoving object 10 and/or information of the determined region in thestorage section 142, in association with this moving object 10. Thedetermining section 146 may store a history of the position informationof this moving object 10 and/or a history of the determined mobileobject server 220 in the storage section 142. The determining section146 may be a circuit, a shared or dedicated computer readable mediumstoring computer readable program instructions executable by a shared ordedicated processor, etc.

The receiving section 150 may be operable to receive informationtransmitted from each of a plurality of moving objects 10. Each movingobject 10 may transmit information at designated time intervals, and thereceiving section 150 may sequentially receive this transmittedinformation. In this embodiment, the receiving section 150 may receivecar probe data from each moving object 10 as the information. The carprobe data may include information detected by the moving object 10,such as position information of the moving object 10.

In one embodiment, the position information may include longitude andlatitude (and optionally altitude information) of the moving object 10in an absolute coordinate system. In another embodiment, the movingobject 10 may determine its location in the absolute coordinate systemby using GPS, and the determining section 146 receiving the positioninformation may determine a route on which the moving object 10 existsand a specific location of the route at which the moving object 10exists based on the position information. Alternatively, the movingobject 10 may include such detailed position information in the carprobe data.

The receiving section 150 may communicate with the plurality of movingobjects 10 and receive the car probe data of each moving object 10, viathe Internet 40. The receiving section 150 may receive the car probedata of the plurality of moving objects 10 through wirelesscommunication, a subscriber network, a cellular network, or any desiredcombination of networks.

The transmitting section 152 may be operable to transmit eventinformation to each of the moving objects 10 according to settings, forexample. The transmitting section 152 may transmit informationconcerning the route on which the moving object 10 is expected totravel. The transmitting section 152 may communicate with the movingobjects 10 and transmit each type of information to the moving objects10 via the Internet 40. The transmitting section 152 may transmit eachtype of information to the moving objects 10 through wirelesscommunication, a subscriber network, a cellular network, or any desiredcombination of networks.

The gateway apparatus 160 may be operable to transfer communicationbetween the plurality of subsystems 200 and the plurality of movingobjects 10. The gateway apparatus 160 may communicate with the receivingsection 150 and receive the information transmitted by each movingobject 10.

The gateway apparatus 160 may communicate with the region manager 140and demand the transfer destination for each piece of informationreceived from the moving objects 10, of the region manager 140. Inresponse to this request, the gateway apparatus 160 may receive from theregion manager 140 the information of the subsystem 200 managing theregion on which the moving object 10 exists. The gateway apparatus 160may transfer the information received from the moving object 10 to thesubsystem 200 that is to manage the moving object 10. In other words,the gateway apparatus 160 may transfer the information received fromeach moving object 10 to the subsystem 200 determined by the regionmanager 140.

The gateway apparatus 160 may communicate with each of the subsystems200, and receive the information transmitted by each subsystem 200. Thegateway apparatus 160 may communicate with the transmitting section 152and supply the transmitting section 152 with the information receivedfrom each subsystem 200, such that this information is transferred tothe moving objects 10 designated for each subsystem 200.

The gateway apparatus 160 may include a plurality of gateway devices,and may quickly perform transfer between the plurality of subsystems 200and the plurality of moving objects 10. In this case, the receivingsection 150 may function as a load balancer that supplies theinformation from the moving objects 10, such that the load is spreadamong the plurality of gateways. The load balancer may sequentiallysupply information from the moving objects 10 to the gateways havinglighter loads. The gateway apparatus 160 may be a network that providesa connection between a plurality of networks using the same or differenttypes of protocols.

A plurality of subsystems 200 may be operable to communicate with theregion manager 140 and the gateway apparatus 160 and to respectivelymanage a plurality of regions in a geographic space. Each subsystem 200is operable to manage moving objects 10 that travel routes in itsmanaging region and to manage events on its managing region.

As described, each subsystem 200 may include the event server 210 andthe mobile object server 220. The event server 210 manages eventsoccurring on its managing region with the plurality of the event agents.In one embodiment, the event server 210 may perform, through the eventagent, (i) registration, update and/or deletion of events, (ii)registration, update and/or deletion of candidate events, and (iii)provision of event information.

The mobile object server 220 manages the plurality of the mobile objects10 traveling on its managing region with the plurality of the mobileobject agents. In one embodiment, the mobile object server 220 mayperform, through the mobile object agent, (i) processing of the carprobe data, (ii) update of information of the mobile object, and (iii)provision of information to the mobile object. For example, the mobileobject server 220 may execute the mobile object agent to collectinformation of events from at least one event server 210, and providethe moving object 10 with information that assists the moving object 10with traveling in the geographic space.

A plurality of object servers 230 including at least one object server230 may communicate with the gateway 160 and include an object agent(OA) containing information of the moving object 10. An object agent maycorrespond to each moving object 10 and contain information thereof. Inone embodiment, the object agent may contain (i) information, by region,of which subsystem currently manages a mobile object agent of the movingobject 10, (ii) an identification (ID) of the moving object 10, (iii) anID of a passenger of the moving object 10, and (iv) a characteristic ofthe moving object 10 (e.g., model/version information, width, length,and/or height of the moving object 10).

The object server 230 may perform, through the object agent, (i)provision and/or update of information of the moving object 10, (ii)registration, update, and/or deletion of the ID of passenger riding onthe moving object 10, (iii) provision and/or update of the informationof the region of the moving object 10, and (iv) provision of informationneeded for generation of a new mobile object agent by the mobile objectserver 220.

At least one passenger server 240 of a plurality of passenger serversmay communicate with the gateway 160, and include a passenger agent thatcontains information of at least one passenger. A passenger agent maycorrespond to each passenger or candidate passenger of moving objects10, and contain information thereof. In one embodiment, the object agentmay contain an ID of a passenger and a characteristic of the passenger(e.g., information of age, gender, type, and the like of license of thepassenger). The passenger server 240 may perform, through the passengeragent, provision and/or update of information of the passengers.

As described above, the system 100 of the present embodiment may managethe moving objects by utilizing the mobile object agents in each mobileobject server 220, and manage the events by utilizing the event agent ineach event server 210. According to the system 100 of the embodiment,the system 100 can separately manage information relating to the movingobjects 10 and events on the geographic map with a plurality of kinds ofservers. Furthermore, the plurality of mobile object servers 220 cansmoothly transfer the management of the moving objects 10 travelingacross the regions via the mobile object agents, thereby improving theefficiency of the whole system 100. In addition, according to the system100 of the embodiment, each event server 210 divides event management inone region among the plurality of event agents and provides the mobileobject agent with event information, thereby improving the efficiency ofevent management in the region (e.g., improving response time of eventsearch) and thus event notification to the moving objects 10. Inaddition, the system 100 can provide the mobile object agent withinformation of moving object 10 by the object agent of the object server230. The system 100 can also provide the mobile object agent withinformation of passengers of the moving objects 10 by the passengeragent of the passenger server 240.

FIG. 4 shows management of events by the event server 210 and the mobileobject server 220, according to an embodiment of the present invention.In this embodiment, a moving object 10 is traveling on a target route onregion A and transmitting a car probe data including the positioninformation to the event server 210 managing region A with the car probedata via a gateway apparatus, such as the gateway apparatus 160. Theevent server 210 manages event information through each event agentbased on the car probe data from the moving objects on region A. Forexample, each event agent may manage an event list (containinginformation of an event and an influence event for routes on the areamanaged by the event agent) and a candidate event list (containinginformation of candidates of an event for routes on the area managed bythe event agent).

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the event agent EA2 manages events of anarea (indicated as “DA2” on the region A of FIG. 4) by the event list ofthe event agent EA2 and the candidate event list of the event agent EA2based on car probe data from the moving object 10 on the area DA2. Forexample, the event agent EA2 assigned to the area DA2 is executable togenerate an event based on the information from the moving object 10.

In one embodiment, each mobile object server 220 is operable to receiveinformation from the moving object 10 in the region A assigned to themobile object server 220. The mobile object server 220 determines thetarget route where the moving object 10 is located. The mobile objectserver 220 sends the information to one event server 210 assigned to aregion A where the moving object 10 is located, and thereby requests theevent agent EA2 assigned to the area DA2 where the target route islocated to send an event list containing information of an event on thetarget route and the influence event of the target route.

The mobile object server 220 executes the mobile object agent MOA1 forthe moving object 10 to provide the moving object 10 with informationthat assists the moving object 10 with traveling in the area DA2 basedon the information of the event on the other route and the influenceevent of the target route. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the mobileobject agent MOA1 receives, from the event agent EA2, the eventinformation of the route on which the moving object 10 exists, andprovides the moving object 10 with the event information (e.g.,information of closure).

FIG. 5 shows management of a moving object 10 by the mobile objectservers 220 and object server 230, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The mobile object server 220-1 may transfer themobile object agent to the mobile object server 220-2 assigned to aneighboring region in response to the moving object 10 moving to theneighboring region. In this embodiment, in response to a moving object10 traveling from region A to region B, the mobile object server 220-1managing region A deletes the mobile object agent MOA for the movingobject 10, and a mobile object server 220-2 managing region B generatesa mobile object agent MOA for the moving object 10.

In this embodiment, the object agent 230 may store information thatincludes a mobile object server identifier MOS-ID that identifies one ofthe plurality of mobile object servers 220 executing the mobile objectagent corresponding to the moving object 10. Just after the movingobject 10 arrives at region B, the mobile object server 220-2 has notbeen executing the mobile object agent for the moving object 10. Themobile object server 220-2 is operable to receive information from themoving object 10 in region B assigned to the mobile object server 220-2.

Using the information from the moving object 10, the mobile objectserver 220-2 obtains the mobile object server identifier MOS-ID from theobject server 230 that manages the object agent for the moving object 10because the mobile object server 220-2 is not executing the mobileobject agent for the moving object 10. The mobile object server 220-2requests a mobile object server 220-1 identified by the mobile objectserver identifier MOS-ID to transfer the mobile object agent for themoving object 10. Then the mobile object server 220-1 managing region Atransfers the mobile object agent to the mobile object server 220-2assigned to a neighboring region B in response to the request.

FIG. 6 shows an operational flow of the system 100 according to anembodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 6, thesystem 100 performs the operations from S610 to S680 to manage movingobjects, such as moving object 10, and events on a map area. However,the system 100 shown in FIGS. 1-5 is not limited to using thisoperational flow. Also, the operational flow in FIG. 6 may be performedby a modified system or a different system that differs from the system100 shown in FIGS. 1-5.

First, an acquiring section, such as the acquiring section 110, mayacquire the map data of the geographic space to be managed by the system(S610). The acquiring section may acquire map data of a geographic spacethat includes one or more cities, one or more towns, and the like. Theacquiring section may include map data of a geographic space includingone or more states, countries, continents, etc. A dividing section, suchas the dividing section 130, may divide the map area to generate aplurality of regions.

Next, the system may perform an initialization process for the movingobject (S620). The system may perform the process of S620 if a user(passenger) initializes a setting of a moving object and any passengersof the moving object, before starting to drive the moving object.

After S620, a gateway apparatus, such as the gateway apparatus 160, ofthe system may acquire a car probe data from the moving object (S630).Although the system may acquire the car probe data from the plurality ofthe moving objects, the system acquiring a car probe data from onemoving object (which, may be referred to as “a target moving object”) isexplained in the below description. The car probe data may includeinformation detected by the target moving object, such as currentposition information of the target moving object, a speed and/ordirection of the target moving object, and event information observed bythe target moving object (e.g., occurrence of ABS, detection ofobstacles, or the like). In one embodiment, the position information mayinclude a route ID of a route on which the target moving object existsand the distance between the current location of the target movingobject and one end of the route.

Next, the gateway apparatus may determine a region on which the targetmoving object is traveling based on the position information of the carprobe data of the target moving object (S640). In one embodiment, thegateway apparatus may inquire a region manager, such as the regionmanager 140, about the region on which the moving exists. A determiningsection, such as the determining section 146, of the region manager maydetermine the region of the target moving object and provide the gatewayapparatus with the information of the region of the target movingobject. The gateway apparatus may provide an event server, such as theevent server 210, that manages the determined region and a mobile objectserver, such as the mobile object server 220, that manages thedetermined region with the car probe data.

Next, the event server that is provided with the car probe data of thetarget moving object may process events for the moving objects (S650).The event server may manage event information based on the car probedata for notification of events to the target moving object.

After S650, the mobile object server that is provided with the car probedata of the target moving object may manage a mobile object agent forthe target moving object (S660).

After S660, the system determines whether to end the process for thetarget moving object. In one embodiment, the gateway apparatus maydetermine whether the car probe date indicates the engine stop of thetarget moving object. If the system determines not to end the process,then the system proceeds with the process of S630 for the target movingobject. If the system determines to end the process, then the systemends the process for the target moving object, and may continue theprocess for other moving objects.

As described above, the system manages moving objects by utilizingmobile object agents realized by the plurality of mobile object servers.Since the system can transfer the mobile object agent between the mobileobject servers, it can efficiently manage moving objects travelingbetween the plurality of regions. Furthermore, the system collects carprobe data from the moving objects and manages events generated from thecar probe data by utilizing the event agents. Since each event serverdivides a number of events occurring on its managing region into aplurality of areas by utilizing the event agents, it can efficientlyhandle event information.

The process of S610 may be performed once before starting processesS620-S680. The process of S620-S680 may be performed for every movingobject.

FIG. 7 shows an operational flow of an initialization process for amoving object, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Thepresent embodiment describes an example in which the system performs aninitialization process, such as the initialization process of S620 ofFIG. 6, through processes S621 to S623 shown in FIG. 7.

First, a gateway apparatus receives setting data (including an ID of themoving object, an ID(s) of passenger(s) and position information of themoving object) from the moving object (S621). The gateway apparatusdetermines one mobile object server that manages the moving object basedon the position information of the moving object. The gateway apparatusprovides the determined mobile object server with the setting data.Then, the determined mobile object server obtains information (e.g.,ID(s) of the passenger(s)) of at least one passenger of the movingobject from the setting data of the moving object.

Then, the mobile object server may request the object agent of theobject server for the moving object to store the information of the atleast one passenger of the moving object (S622). For example, eachmoving object may be mapped to each object agent of the object serversbased on values of the IDs of the moving objects, and the mobile objectserver may identify one object agent corresponding to the ID of themoving object based on a calculation using the ID. Then, the mobileobject server may provide the object server managing the identifiedobject agent with the setting data including the position information,the ID of the moving object, and ID(s) of passenger(s) of the movingobject via the gateway apparatus.

Next, the object server stores the information of passenger(s) on anobject agent. In one embodiment, each passenger may be preliminarilymapped to a passenger server based on values of the IDs of thepassengers, and the passenger servers may have information ofpassengers. The object server may identify one passenger servercorresponding to the ID of a passenger based on a calculation using theID. The object server may receive, via the gateway apparatus, theinformation of passengers from the passenger server corresponding to theID. Then, the object server may store or update the information of themoving object and the passengers of the moving object, in the objectagent for the moving object. The object server may include theinformation of a region in which the moving object currently exists, inthe object agent.

Next, the mobile object server 220 managing the region in which themoving object 10 exists generates a new mobile object agent for themoving object 10 (S623). In one embodiment, the mobile object server 220may copy the information of the object agent for the moving object 10 tothe newly generated mobile object agent. For example, the mobile objectserver 220 may store the information of the moving object 10 and theinformation of the at least one passenger of the moving object 10 in thenewly generated mobile object agent for the moving object 10.

FIG. 8 shows an operational flow of event processing, according to anembodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment describes anexample in which the system performs event processing, such as the eventprocessing of S650 of FIG. 6, through processes S651 to S659 shown inFIG. 8.

First, the event server may identify an event agent (S651). In oneembodiment, the event sever determines one event agent from theplurality of event agents based on the position information of thetarget moving object. The determined event agent may be referred to as a“target event agent.” For example, the event server determines a targetroute (or an edge of the map data) of the target moving object based onthe position information and the map data, and selects, as a targetevent agent, an event agent that manages an area including the targetroute of the target moving object indicated by the car probe data. Inanother embodiment, the car probe data of a target moving object mayinclude the information of the target route of the target moving object.

Next, the event server may edit event lists by the target event agentbased on the car probe data (S652). In one embodiment, the target eventagent may generate or update information of events (e.g., a route onwhich an event occurs, an event ID, a location of an event, and contentof event) of the target route on the event list based on information ofthe car probe data. The event of the target route may be referred to asa “target event.”

Next, the event server may search, by the target event agent, aninfluence event on the target route on the area of the target eventagent based on the car probe data (S653). The influence event of thetarget route relates to an event on another route within a thresholddistance (e.g., a threshold travelling distance of the target route, athreshold number of edges away from the target route, and/or a thresholdtravelling time from the target route).

In one embodiment, the target event agent itself may search for routes(or edge IDs) apart from the target route within the threshold distancebased on topology information of routes in the regions, or may requestother entities (e.g., a server) to search for routes (or edge IDs).

Next, the event server may determine whether the event list of thetarget event agent includes event entries corresponding to all influenceevents of the target route searched at S653 (S654). In one embodiment,the target event agent determines whether routes of the influence eventsare listed as edge IDs of events in the event list.

If an area managed by a target event agent includes the routes (edges)of all influence events relating to an event, then an event list of thetarget event agent includes corresponding event entries of all influenceevents. However, if the routes (edges) of any influence events aremanaged by other event agents, then the event list may not includecorresponding event entries of all influence events. If the decision ispositive, then the event server proceeds with the process S655 and ifnegative, the event server proceeds with the process S656.

At S655, the event server may edit a notification event ID list by thetarget event agent. The notification event ID list includes IDs ofinfluence events and edge IDs of the influence events that aredetermined to be not included in the event list of the target eventagent at S654. In other words, the notification event ID list is a listof event IDs of influence events that are not managed by the targetevent agent. Then, the event server may proceed with the process ofS656.

At S656, the event server may edit a notification event list for thetarget moving object, by the target event agent. The notification eventlist is a list of events that may be helpful to the target moving objecttraveling on the target route. The notification event list may includetarget events and influence events of the target events. The targetevent agent may add entries of the target events and the influenceevents in its managing event list for notification.

Next, the event server determines, by the target event agent, whetherthe notification event ID list has at least one entry. If the decisionis positive, then the event server proceeds with the process of S658,and if negative, then the event server ends the process of S650.

At S658, the event server may identify, by the target event agent, anevent agent that manages an event list including events in thenotification event ID list. The determined event agent may be referredto as “remote event agent.”

Next, the event server may acquire information of events in thenotification event ID list (S659), and end the process S650. In oneembodiment, the target event agent may receive information of events inthe notification event ID list from the remote event agent, and edit thenotification event list based on the acquired information. In anotherembodiment, the target event agent may add entries of the influenceevents in the notification event ID list based on the acquiredinformation.

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative example of an event list, according to anembodiment of the present invention. As described in FIG. 9, the eventlist may include edge IDs of events, event IDs of events, locations ofevents, specific contents of events, and influence events relating toevents. In this embodiment, each route is represented as “edge.” Forexample, this event list indicates that an event (identified as “Eve0214”) has occurred along the full length of edge 0001 on the area, thatthe event has limited the speed to 30 km/h, and that edge 0001 includesan influence event identified as “Eve 0114.” The event list alsoindicates that an event (identified as “Eve 0114” on edge 0002) hasoccurred 32 m from the 1st node on edge 0002 on the area, that the eventis a closure of a route, and that edge 0001 includes influence eventsidentified as “Eve 0214” on edge 0001, “Eve 0421” on edge 0003, etc. Inone embodiment, the target event agent may add a new entry correspondingto an event detected by the car probe data, in the event list.

According to the first entry in the event list of FIG. 9, the edge 0001has influence event 0114. This may mean that a moving object travelingon the edge 0001 is influenced by the event 0114 that has occurred apartfrom edge 0001 within a threshold distance. In response to receiving thecar probe data including the position information indicating that thetarget moving object is traveling on the edge 0001, the target eventagent searches and obtains routes (edge IDs) apart from the target route(edge 0001) within the threshold distance, and then finds neighboringedge 0002 as a result. In response to receiving the car probe dataincluding the position information of the edge 0001, the target eventagent determines whether the edge of influence event (edge 0002)corresponding to the target route is listed as edge IDs in the eventlist.

The target event agent assigned to the area may generate or update acandidate event based on information from the target moving object. Inone embodiment, the target event agent may generate or update candidateevents on the candidate event list including information of a pluralityof edges on the area of the event agent based on information of the carprobe data.

Although the event list of FIG. 9 includes information of influenceevents, the information of the influence events may be managed byanother list. In one embodiment, the event agent may manage both a firstevent list containing information of an event on the target route and asecond event list containing information of the influence event.

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative example of a candidate event list,according to an embodiment of the present invention. As described inFIG. 10, the event list may include edge IDs of candidate events, countsof detecting candidate events, locations of candidate events, andspecific contents of candidate events for each candidate event. Forexample, this candidate event list indicates that evidence of an event(congestion) has been observed twice along the full length of edge 0009on the area, and that evidence of an event (skid) has been observed onceat a point 15 m from the 2nd node on edge 0013 on the area.

The target event agent may determine whether to change a candidate eventin the candidate event list to an event in the event list. In oneembodiment, the target event agent may upgrade the candidate event tothe event based on information from other moving objects. In this case,the target event agent counts occurrences of a candidate event observedby a plurality of moving objects (including the target moving object andother moving objects). If the count of a candidate event exceeds athreshold value, then the target event agent determines that thecandidate event is upgraded to an event. In one embodiment, in responseto the upgrade, the target event agent deletes the entry of thecandidate event from the candidate event list, and generates a new entryof an event corresponding to the deleted candidate event. The eventservers may set the same or different criteria for upgrading candidateevents among the plurality of event agents.

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative example of a notification event list,according to an embodiment of the present invention. As described inFIG. 11, the notification event list may include edge IDs oftarget/influence events, event IDs of target/influence events, locationsof target/influence events, and specific contents of target/influenceevents. For example, this notification event list indicates that anevent (speed limit) has occurred along the full length of edge 0001 onthe area, and that an event (closure) has occurred at a point 32 m fromthe 1st node on edge 0002 on the area.

FIG. 12 shows a moving object and events, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 12, the target movingobject 10 is traveling eastbound on the edge 0001, which is the targetroute. The target event agent EA1 manages an area including the edge0001, the edge 0002, the edge 0101, and the edge 0102, and theneighboring event agent EA2 manages an area including the edge 0003, theedge 0103, and the edge 0104.

Direction dependent edges are described in FIG. 12. However, edges maynot be direction dependent according other embodiments, and in suchembodiments, the event agent may manage events, candidate events, andinfluence events with direction information. The target event agent EA1manages an event (Eve 0214) on the edge 0001 as the target event in theevent list. Since the edge 0002 is apart from the edge 0001 within thethreshold distance, the target event agent EA1 also manages an event(Eve 0114) on the edge 0002 as an influence event in the event list. Thetarget event agent EA1 manages a notification event list including thetarget event (Eve0214) and the influence event (Eve 0114) for the targetmoving object 10.

In the embodiment of FIG. 12, the mobile object agent managing targetmoving object requests the event agent EA1 that manages the target event(e.g., Eve 0214) and the influence event (e.g., Eve 0114) to send thenotification event list including the target event and the influenceevent. In another embodiment, the mobile object agent may request theremote event agent EA2 that manages the information of influenceevent(s) (e.g., Eve0421) to send a notification event list containinginformation of the influence event(s) if the influence event is locatedoutside of the area including the target route (Edge 0001).

FIG. 13 shows an operational flow of moving object processing, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. The present embodimentdescribes an example in which the system manages the target mobileobject, such as in S660 of FIG. 6, through processes S661 to S669 shownin FIG. 13.

At S661, the mobile object server may determine whether the mobileobject agent for the target moving object exists in the regiondetermined to be the region of the moving object, such as the regiondetermined at S640. In other words, the mobile object server determineswhether the mobile object server manages the mobile object agent of thetarget moving object. If the decision is positive, then the mobileobject server proceeds with the process S667, and if negative, themobile object server proceeds with the process S662.

At S662, the mobile object server may identify an object server thatincludes the object agent containing the information of the targetmoving object. In one embodiment, the mobile object server may identifythe object server in the same manner described in S622.

Next, at S663, the mobile object server may inquire the object server230 identified at S662 for the location of the mobile object agent ofthe target moving object. The object server may refer to the objectagent of the target moving object, obtain information of the mobileobject server that currently manages the mobile object agent MOA of thetarget moving object, if it exists, and provide the mobile object serverwith the information.

Next, the mobile object server may determine whether the mobile objectagent for the target moving object exists in any other regions. In otherwords, the mobile object server may determine which mobile object servermanages the mobile object agent for the target moving object from theplurality of mobile object servers managing other regions, at S663. Ifthe decision is positive, then the mobile object server proceeds withthe process S666, and if negative the mobile object server proceeds withthe process S665.

At S665, the mobile object server generates a new mobile object agentMOA for the target moving object. The mobile object server may generatethe mobile object agent MOA for the target moving object by obtaininginformation of the target moving object from the object server thatincludes the object agent containing the information of the targetmoving object. In one embodiment, the mobile object server may generatethe new mobile object agent in the same manner described in S623. Themobile object server may also communicate with the object server via thegateway apparatus, and register the current region of the target movingobject in the object agent corresponding to the target moving object. Bygenerating the new mobile object agent, the system can handle a newmoving object 10 that has been not managed by the mobile object server.

At S666, the mobile object server may transfer the mobile object agentfrom the other mobile object server determined to manage the mobileobject agent for the target moving object at S664. In one embodiment,the mobile object server may receive information of the mobile objectagent for the target moving object from the other mobile object server,and generate a new mobile object agent including the receivedinformation. The mobile object server may also communicate with theobject server via the gateway apparatus, and register the current regionof the target moving object in the object agent of the target movingobject.

Next, at S667, the mobile object server may receive a notification eventlist for the target moving object. In one embodiment, the mobile objectserver first determines the target route where the target moving objectis located. Then, the mobile object server may request the event agentthat manages the information of target event(s) and influence event(s)corresponding to the target route to send a notification event listcontaining information of the target event(s) and influence event(s) ofthe target route.

At S668, the mobile object server may update the current location of thetarget moving object by the mobile object agent. In one embodiment, themobile object agent for the target moving object updates the currentlocation of the target moving object based on the position informationof the car probe data.

At S669, the mobile object server may execute the mobile object agentfor the target moving object to provide the target moving object withinformation that assists the target moving object with traveling in thegeographic space based on the information included in the event list. Inone embodiment, the mobile object agent may provide the target movingobject with information of events on the notification event list.

In one embodiment, the at least one mobile object server may execute themobile object agent for the target moving object to provide the targetmoving object with information that assists the target moving objectwith traveling in the geographic space based on the information of theat least one passenger of the target moving object. For example, themobile object agent may provide the target moving object with an alert,a notice, and/or an action list relating events on the notificationevent list depending on a number of passengers (e.g., for guiding a carpool lane), the age, gender, license, real time information (e.g.,driving history or sleep history), and characteristics of thepassengers.

The action list is a list of actions recommended to passengers inresponse to the events (e.g., braking, accelerating, and/or steering ofthe target moving object).

The action list may include commands to the target moving object forautomatic driving and/or driving assist. In one embodiment, the mobileobject agent may include information that the passenger is sensitive torough driving, and then the mobile object agent may provide commands togently drive the target moving object. In one embodiment, the mobileobject agent may include information of driving skill of a driverpassenger, and then provide different commands depending on the skill ofthe driver. The mobile object server may provide the target movingobject with the information via the gateway apparatus.

As described above, the mobile object server receives information fromthe target moving object in the region assigned to the mobile objectserver, and generates the mobile object agent for the target movingobject if there is no mobile object server among the plurality of mobileobject servers that is executing the mobile object agent.

FIG. 14 shows an event server 210 of the system 100 according to anembodiment of the present invention. The event server 210 may be anevent server of the subsystem 200 shown in FIG. 3 and may manage eventsin region A as shown in FIG. 2. In addition to executing one or moreevent agents, such as the event agents EA1-EA16 shown in FIG. 2, theevent server 210 generates and executes one or more dynamic event agentsDEA1, DEA2, etc., each dedicated to handling a different dynamic eventoccurring in region A. Like the event agents, the dynamic event agentsmay be software entities having specific data and operable to receivemessages (e.g. commands) and return results. Also like the event agents,the dynamic event agents may transmit event information to a mobileobject agent executed by a mobile object server 220 to be provided to amoving object 10 moving in region A. However, whereas the events handledby the event agents occur locally within an area of one of the regionsof the geographic space and may be associated with influence eventsoccurring in the same or nearby areas of the region as described above,a dynamic event is a large-scale event with the potential to affect aplurality of the regions. An example of a dynamic event may be a weatherpattern, a fire, or a traffic condition caused by a vehicle collision,natural disaster, or other emergency situation. A dynamic event agentDEA1 generated by the event server 210 of a subsystem 200 assigned toregion A handles a specific dynamic event occurring in region A andissues requests to event servers 210 of subsystems 200 assigned tonearby regions to generate dynamic event agents to handle the samedynamic event in those nearby regions. The dynamic event agents ofdifferent subsystems 200 communicate with each other to manage the samedynamic event.

The event server 210 of FIG. 14 is depicted in a state in which one ormore dynamic event agents DEA1, DEA2, etc. have been generated by one ormore event agents executed by the event server 210. (In a state in whichno dynamic event agents have been generated, the dynamic even agent(s)DEA1 DEA2, etc. would not exist.) The event server 210 of FIG. 14includes a communication section 1410, a local DEA information storage1420, one or more event agent(s) EA1, EA2, etc., and one or more dynamicevent agent(s) DEA1, DEA2, etc.

The communication section 1410 receives the various outputs of the eventagent(s) EA1, EA2, etc. and the dynamic event agent(s) DEA1, DEA2, etc.and outputs them from the event server 210. For example, thecommunication section 1410 may receive event information from the eventagent(s) EA1, EA2, etc. and from the dynamic event agent(s) DEA1, DEA2,etc. and output the event information to the mobile object server 220(see FIG. 3). The communication section 1410 further receives, fromoutside the event server 210, the various inputs of the event agent(s)EA1, EA2, etc. and the dynamic event agent(s) DEA1, DEA2, etc. andinputs them to the event agent(s) EA1, EA2, etc. and the dynamic eventagent(s) DEA1, DEA2, etc. For example, the communication section 1410may receive car probe data transmitted to the event server 210 via thegateway apparatus 160 by a moving object 10 traveling in region A. Thecommunication section 1410 may also transmit various information,requests, notifications, etc. between the dynamic event agents and eventagents of different subsystems 200.

The local DEA information storage 1420 stores information about dynamicevent agents currently in existence within the subsystem 200. Byconsulting the local DEA information storage 1420, it can be determinedwhether a given dynamic event is currently managed by a dynamic eventagent of the subsystem 200.

The event agent(s) EA1, EA2, etc. manage events in the region to whichthe event server 210 is assigned. Each of the event agent(s) EA1, EA2,etc. includes an event processing section 1430, an event status storage1431, an event output section 1432, and a DEA management section 1440.

The event processing section 1430 processes received information such ascar probe data from a moving object 10 traveling in region A and/orinformation from other sources, such as traffic information centers,weather centers, etc. according to a rule for creating an event. The carprobe data may include event information observed by the moving object10 (e.g., occurrence of ABS, detection of obstacles, or the like). Inthis way, the event processing section 1430 produces event informationabout an event to be handled by the event agent EA1. For example, ifreceived car probe data indicates that ABS occurrence was observed bymany cars in the same place, the road may be considered slippery and anevent for handling a slippery road may be created. The event processingsection 1430 may also modify event information of a created event, e.g.to change its location or range, or remove an event, based on newreceived information.

The event status storage 1431 of the event agent EA1 stores eventinformation about events handled by the event agent EA1. For example,the event status storage 1431 may store event information created by theevent processing section 1430, and the contents of the event statusstorage 1431 may later be modified by the event processing section 1430.The event status storage 1431 may store the event information in theform of an event list like the event list shown in FIG. 9.

The event output section 1432 outputs event information about eventshandled by the event agent to the communication section 1410 to beoutput to the mobile object server 220. The mobile object server 220 mayuse the event information to assist mobile objects with moving in thegeographic space. For example, the mobile object server 220 may executea mobile object agent and the mobile object agent may calculate a routeto a destination designated by a passenger of the mobile object. Whencalculating a route, a route (edge) having an event such as traffic canbe avoided or detoured. As another example, the event output section1432 may output a notification event list for a target moving object asdescribed with respect to step S667 of FIG. 13.

The DEA management section 1440 manages the generation of dynamic eventagents to be executed by the event server 210. The DEA managementsection 1440 includes a dynamic event score calculator 1441 and a DEAgenerating section 1442.

The dynamic event score calculator 1441 receives information suggestiveof a dynamic event and calculates a dynamic event scored based on thereceived information. For example, the received information may be eventinformation stored in the event status storage 1431. The dynamic eventscore may be a value indicative of the necessity of generating a dynamicevent agent to handle the dynamic event suggested by the eventinformation.

The DEA generating section 1442 generates a dynamic event agent forhandling a dynamic event occurring in the region to which the subsystem200 is assigned, for example, by allotting system resources to asoftware entity dedicated to managing the particular dynamic event. Forexample, the event server 210 may execute an object-oriented program fora dynamic event agent and create an instance, such as DEA1, of an objectfor the dynamic event agent. The DEA generating section 1442 maygenerate the dynamic event agent if an event handled by the event agentis predicted to spread to a region next to the region to which the eventserver 210 is assigned. The DEA generating section 1442 may determinewhether to generate a dynamic event agent on the basis of the dynamicevent score calculated by the dynamic event score calculator 1441 andthe information stored in the local DEA information storage 1420. Forexample, the DEA generating section 1442 may generate a dynamic eventagent when the dynamic event score exceeds a threshold value and no DEAhandling the same dynamic event exists in the subsystem 200. Upongeneration of a dynamic event agent, the DEA generating section 1442 mayassign the dynamic event to the dynamic event agent and update the localDEA information storage 1420 to reflect the newly generated dynamicevent agent.

In some cases, the DEA generating section 1442 may generate the dynamicevent agent before occurrence of the dynamic event based on statisticalinformation about occurrence of events in the region. For example, bycomparing one or more events stored in the event status storage 1431with known statistical information, the DEA generating section 1442 maypredict the occurrence of a dynamic event. For example, if weatherevents highly correlated with an imminent severe weather condition likea storm appear in the event status storage 1431, the DEA generatingsection 1442 may generate a dynamic event agent to handle the stormbefore the storm itself occurs. As another example, if statisticalinformation indicates that a vehicle collision is likely to occur in theregion during a certain time of day (e.g. rush hour), the DEA generatingsection 1442 may generate a dynamic event agent for handling a collisionbefore the collision occurs.

Each of the dynamic event agent(s) DEA1, DEA2, etc. includes a dynamicevent processing section 1450, a dynamic event status storage 1451, adynamic event output section 1452, a classifier 1453, an external effectcalculator 1454, a request generating section 1455, a DEA info I/Osection 1456, a DEA registry 1457, a source DEA determining section1458, and a DEA eliminating section 1459.

The dynamic event processing section 1450 processes received informationsuch as car probe data from a moving object 10 traveling in region Aand/or information from other sources, such as traffic informationcenters, weather centers, etc. according to a rule for creating dynamicevent content of the dynamic event handled by the dynamic event agent.In this way, the dynamic event processing section 1450 produces dynamicevent information about the dynamic event. For example, in the case of adynamic event agent handling a severe weather condition like a storm asthe dynamic event, the content of the dynamic event may include slipperyroads. In this case, upon receiving car probe data indicating that ABSoccurrence was observed by many cars in the same place, the dynamicevent processing section 1450 may consider a new road to be slippery andproduce new dynamic event content for the dynamic event. The dynamicevent processing section 1450 may also modify dynamic event informationof an already-created item of dynamic event content, e.g. to change itslocation or range, or remove dynamic event content, based on newreceived information.

When producing dynamic event content for the dynamic event, the dynamicevent processing section 1450 may estimate traffic congestion of avehicle route in the region caused by the dynamic event based onalready-created dynamic event content and/or new received information.For example, the dynamic event processing section 1450 may estimatetraffic congestion by comparing already-created dynamic eventinformation and/or new received information with information about thepositional relationships and connection states of roads. In this way,the dynamic event content produced by the dynamic event processingsection 1450 may include estimated traffic congestion of vehicle routesin the region caused by the dynamic event.

The dynamic event status storage 1451 stores dynamic event informationabout the dynamic event handled by the dynamic event agent. For example,the dynamic event status storage 1451 may store dynamic eventinformation created by the dynamic event processing section 1450, andthe contents of the event status storage 1451 may later be modified bythe event processing section 1450. The dynamic event status storage 1451may store information about the dynamic event similar to the eventinformation in the event list shown in FIG. 9 except that i) all itemsof dynamic event content relate to a single dynamic event and ii) theinformation covers all affected areas of the region (and thus there areno influence events).

The dynamic event output section 1452 outputs dynamic event informationabout the dynamic event handled by the dynamic event agent to thecommunication section 1410 to be output to the mobile object server 220.The mobile object server 220 may use the dynamic event information toassist mobile objects with moving in the geographic space. For example,the mobile object server 220 may execute a mobile object agent and themobile object agent may calculate a route to a destination designated bya passenger of the mobile object. When calculating a route, a route(edge) having dynamic event content such as traffic can be avoided ordetoured. As another example, the dynamic event output section 1452 mayoutput, based on the contents of the dynamic event status storage 1451,a notification event list for a target moving object in the same way asdescribed with respect to step S667 of FIG. 13. Accordingly, the mobileobject server 220 may transmit a signal based on information about thedynamic event to a mobile object in the region to which the subsystem200 is assigned. Since the dynamic event status storage 1451 may includeestimated traffic congestion of a vehicle route in the region caused bythe dynamic event, the mobile object server 220 may transmit a signalincluding information about the estimated traffic congestion to a mobileobject in the region to which the subsystem 200 is assigned.

The classifier 1453 receives information relating to an event from amobile object in the first region or other source via the communicationsection 1410 and determines whether the received information relates tothe dynamic event. The information may be, for example, car probe datathat would otherwise be received by one of the event server(s) EA1, EA2,etc. if not for the existence of one or more dynamic event agents. Ifthe classifier 1453 determines that the received information relates tothe dynamic event handled by the dynamic event agent to which theclassifier 1453 belongs, the classifier 1453 forwards the receivedinformation to the dynamic event processing section 1450, which thenupdates the dynamic event status storage 1451 to reflect any update tothe status of the dynamic event based on the received information. If,on the other hand, the classifier 1453 determines that the receivedinformation relates to an event other than the dynamic event, theclassifier 1453 forwards the received information to an event agent sothat the event processing section 1430 can update the status of an eventin the event status storage 1431. In this way, updates to existingdynamic events can be made without creating redundant event records inthe event server 210.

When the received information relates to an event other than the dynamicevent, instead of forwarding the received information to an event agent,the classifier 1453 may forward the received information to a seconddynamic event agent to undergo a determination by a second classifier1453. (The dashed downward arrow in FIG. 14 represents a path for theforwarding of received information from the classifier 1453 of DEA1 tothe classifier 1453 of DEA2.) The dynamic event agents DEA1, DEA2, etc.may be arranged in a “chain” such that received information that isfound not to relate to the dynamic event of DEA1 is forwarded to DEA2,received information that is found not to relate to the dynamic event ofDEA2 is forwarded to DEA3 and so on. Only when the classifier 1453 ofthe last dynamic event agent determines that the received informationdoes not relate to its dynamic event is the received informationforwarded to an event agent to be processed by the event processingsection 1430.

The external effect calculator 1454 calculates a probability that anearby region will be affected by the dynamic event. For example, theexternal effect calculator 1454 may monitor the contents of the dynamicevent status storage 1451 and keep a running probability for each of aplurality of nearby regions, such as the regions next to the regionassigned to the subsystem 200. As the dynamic event status storage 1451is updated by the dynamic event processing section 1450 based on, forexample, car probe data, the external effect calculator 1454 may updatethe probabilities.

The external effect calculator 1454 may calculate and update theprobability using an algorithm specific to the dynamic event assigned tothe dynamic event agent to which the external effect calculator 1454belongs. For example, a dynamic event agent that handles a weatherpattern such as a hurricane may calculate the probability that a nearbyregion will be affected on the basis of local weather conditions andweather forecasts. As another example, a dynamic event agent thathandles a fire may calculate the probability that a nearby region willbe affected on the basis of information about the materials andarrangements of buildings and weather conditions such as wind and rain.As yet another example, a dynamic event agent that handles a trafficcondition caused by a vehicle collision, natural disaster, or otheremergency situation may calculate the probability that a nearby regionwill be affected on the basis of positional relationships and connectionstates of roads. For example, since the dynamic event status storage1451 may include estimated traffic congestion of a vehicle route in theregion caused by the dynamic event, the external effect calculator 1454may calculate the probability that a nearby region will be affected bythe traffic condition based on the estimated traffic congestion.

The request generating section 1455 issues a request to a nearbysubsystem 200 causing an event server 210 of the nearby subsystem 200 togenerate a dynamic event agent for handling the same dynamic eventhandled by the subsystem 200 to which the request generating section1455 belongs. For example, the request generating section 1455 of thesubsystem 200 assigned to region A may issue a request to the subsystemassigned to region B (next to region A) if the probability calculated bythe external effect calculator 1454 for region B exceeds a thresholdvalue. The issued request may be transmitted to the subsystem assignedto region B via the communication section 1410.

The DEA info I/O section 1456 sends and receives information aboutdynamic event agents via the communication section 1410. For example,the DEA info I/O section 1456 may send information stored in the localDEA information storage 1420 to a different subsystem 200. Conversely,information received by the DEA info I/O section 1456 from a differentsubsystem 200 may be stored in the local DEA information storage 1420.

The DEA registry 1457 is a list, maintained by the dynamic event agent,of all other dynamic event agents that have been generated for handlingthe dynamic event handled by that dynamic event agent. The contents ofthe DEA registry 1457 may be updated by the DEA info I/O section whenthe DEA info I/O section receives information about other dynamic eventagents.

The source DEA determining section 1458 determines which dynamic eventagent is the source DEA, i.e. the dynamic event agent handling thedynamic event in the region where the dynamic event originated. As moreinformation is obtained about a dynamic event, it may be found that theinitially determined region where the dynamic event was thought to haveoriginated is incorrect, or that the dynamic event could be handled moreefficiently if the source DEA were different. In such a case, the DEAdetermining section 1458 may determine or re-determine the source DEA,for example, by comparing generation timestamps of candidate source DEAsor by comparing the importance of the candidate source DEAs in managingthe dynamic event, for example, with reference to values indicating theseverity or influence of the dynamic event in the regions handled by thecandidate source DEAs.

The eliminating section 1459 eliminates the dynamic event agent to whichit belongs. For example, the eliminating section 1459 of a dynamic eventagent that is not the source DEA may eliminate the dynamic event agent(including itself) based on i) whether or not the dynamic event is stilloccurring in the region and ii) notification from other dynamic eventagents about whether or not the dynamic event is still occurring inother regions. In this way, each dynamic event agent can manage its ownlifecycle up to its own elimination.

FIG. 15 shows an example operational flow of the event server 210 shownin FIG. 14 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In theexample shown in FIG. 15, the event server 210 performs the operationsfrom S1501 to S1503, but the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 is notlimited to using this operational flow. Also, the operational flow inFIG. 15 may be performed by a modified server or a different server thatdiffers from the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14.

First, the event server 210 receives car probe data and/or otherinformation related to events in the region to which the subsystem 200is assigned (S1501), for example, via the communication section 1410. Ifone or more dynamic event agents have already been generated, thereceived information may be forwarded to the event processing section1430 of an event agent EA1 by the classifier 1453 of a dynamic eventagent. On the other hand, if no dynamic event agents are yet inexistence, the received information may be forwarded directly from thecommunication section 1410 to the event processing section 1430 of theevent agent EA1. In either case, the event processing section 1430analyzes the information and, in accordance with a rule, creates anevent or updates an existing event in the event status storage 1431 orignores the received information. The dynamic event score calculator1441 of the DEA management section 1440 of the event agent EA1 maymonitor the contents of the event status storage 1431 or otherwisereceive event information stored in the event status storage 1431.

Such event information may be suggestive of the existence of a dynamicevent within region A. The dynamic event score calculator 1441 maycalculate a dynamic event score indicative of the necessity ofgenerating a dynamic event agent to handle the dynamic event. Forexample, the dynamic event score calculator 1441 may keep a runningdynamic event score and update it as the contents of the event statusstorage 1431 are updated. The dynamic event score may be increased ifthere are a large number of related or similar events in the eventstatus storage 1431, which could indicate that the separate events areactually one large-scale event or that they are likely to spread to anearby region. The dynamic event score may be increased further if theevents are near a border of region A. The dynamic event score may bedecreased if the number of related or similar events in the eventstorage 1431 goes down due to events ending. The dynamic event score mayalso be increased if particular types of events appear in the eventstatus storage 1431. For example, if a reported vehicle collisionappears in the event status storage 1431, the dynamic event scorecalculator 1441 may increase the dynamic event score by a predeterminedamount under the assumption that a vehicle collision is always alarge-scale event.

Next, the event server 210 determines whether a dynamic event scoreindicative of the necessity of generating a dynamic event agent exceedsa threshold value (S1502). For example, the DEA generating section 1442of the DEA management section 1440 may compare a dynamic event scorecalculated by the dynamic event score calculator 1441 to a thresholdvalue. If the dynamic event score exceeds the threshold, the operationalflow of FIG. 15 proceeds to step S1503, and if not, the operational flowreturns to step S1501 and the event server 210 awaits more information.

Lastly, if it has been determined that the dynamic event score exceedsthe threshold value in step S1502, the event server 210 generates adynamic event agent and assigns the dynamic event suggested by thereceived information to the new dynamic event agent (S1503). Forexample, the DEA generating section 1442 of the event server 210 maygenerate the new dynamic event agent and update the contents of thelocal DEA information storage 1420 to reflect the existence of the newdynamic event agent. The new dynamic event agent is initially presumedto be the source DEA for the dynamic event, i.e. the dynamic event agentof the region where the dynamic event originated.

FIG. 16 shows an example operational flow of a dynamic event agentexecuted by the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 according to anembodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 16,the event server 210 executes dynamic event agent DEA1 to perform theoperations from S1601 to S1604, but the event server 210 and dynamicevent agent shown in FIG. 14 are not limited to using this operationalflow. Also, the operational flow in FIG. 16 may be performed by amodified server/agent or a different server/agent that differs from theevent server 210 and DEA1 shown in FIG. 14.

First, DEA1 receives car probe data and/or other information related toevents in the region to which the subsystem 200 is assigned (S1601). Forexample, the classifier 1453 of DEA1 may receive, via the communicationsection 1410, car probe data from a moving object 10 traveling in regionA and/or information originating from other sources, such as trafficinformation centers, weather centers, etc. The car probe data mayinclude event information observed by the moving object 10 (e.g.,occurrence of ABS, detection of obstacles, or the like).

Next, DEA1 determines whether the received information relates to thedynamic event assigned to DEA1 (S1602). For example, the classifier 1453of DEA1 may determine whether the received information relates to thedynamic event assigned to DEA1 based on information stored in theclassifier 1453 at the time DEA1 is generated, such as information aboutthe type of dynamic event assigned to DEA1 and/or the generationtimestamp of DEAL If it is determined that the received informationrelates to the dynamic event assigned to DEA1, the operational flow ofFIG. 16 proceeds to step S1603. If not, the operational flow proceeds tostep S1604.

If it was determined that the received information relates to thedynamic event agent assigned to DEA1, DEA1 updates the status of thedynamic event (S1603). For example, the classifier 1453 of DEA1-1 mayprovide the received information to the dynamic event processing section1450, which may then update the contents of the dynamic event statusstorage 1451, such as by adding a new dynamic event content entryrepresenting a new location within region A affected by the dynamicevent.

If, on the other hand, it was determined that the received informationdoes not relate to the dynamic event assigned to DEA1, DEA1 forwards thereceived information to an event agent of the event server 210 (S1604).For example, the classifier 1453 of DEA1 may forward the receivedinformation to event agent EA1 of the event server 210 to be processedby the event processing section 1430. Step S1604 may be modified asdescribed above in the case of “chained” dynamic event agents. Namely,in step S1604, the classifier 1453 may forward the received informationto EA1 if it is the classifier 1453 of the last dynamic event agent in achain and may otherwise forward the received information to theclassifier 1453 of the next dynamic event agent in the chain.

FIG. 17 shows an example operational flow of a dynamic event agentexecuted by the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 according to anembodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 17,the event server 210 executes the dynamic event agent DEA1 to performthe operations from S1701 to S1704, but the event server 210 and dynamicevent agent shown in FIG. 14 are not limited to using this operationalflow. Also, the operational flow in FIG. 17 may be performed by amodified server/agent or a different server/agent that differs from theevent server 210 and DEA1 shown in FIG. 14.

First, DEA1 monitors the dynamic event in the region to which the eventserver 210 is assigned (S1701) and determines whether the probability ofthe dynamic event handled by DEA1 affecting other regions exceeds athreshold value (S1702). For example, the external effect calculator1454 of DEA1 may monitor the contents of the dynamic event statusstorage 1451 and calculate and update the probability that the dynamicevent will affect nearby region B using an algorithm specific to thedynamic event assigned to DEA1 as described above. If the probabilityexceeds a threshold value, the operational flow of FIG. 17 proceeds tostep S1703. If not, the operational flow returns to step S1701.

If the probability exceeds the threshold value, DEA1 acquires acommunication path to the subsystem assigned to region B (S1703) andsends a dynamic event agent generation request to the subsystem assignedto region B, along with information about the source DEA of the dynamicevent (S1704). For example, the request generating section 1455 of DEA1may issue the request and the DEA info I/O section 1456 of DEA1 maytransmit the source DEA information by reading it from the local DEAinformation storage 1420. The request indicates what the dynamic eventis (e.g. hurricane), and a dynamic event ID unique to the dynamic event.The source DEA information includes which dynamic event agent is thesource DEA for the dynamic event, i.e. the dynamic event agent of theregion where the dynamic event originated, as well as the timestamp ofthe source DEA. If DEA1 was generated on the basis of a dynamic eventscore in accordance with the operational flow shown in FIG. 15, thenDEA1 is initially presumed to be the source DEA, which will be indicatedin the contents of the local DEA information storage 1420 unless thesource DEA has been re-determined. On the other hand, if DEA1 wasgenerated on the basis of a request from a dynamic event agent ofanother region, then DEA1 will typically not be the source DEA and adifferent source DEA will be indicated in the contents of the local DEAinformation storage 1420. In any case, the DEA info I/O section 1456 ofDEA1 transmits the source DEA information for the dynamic event so thatthe event server 210 of the recipient subsystem of the dynamic eventagent generation request can learn the source DEA and record theinformation in its own local DEA information storage 1420.

In the example described above with respect to FIG. 17 and FIG. 14, theDEA info I/O section 1456 of DEA1 transmits the source DEA informationby reading it from the local DEA information storage 1420 while therequest generating section 1455 transmits the request. However, as analternative, the request generating section 1455 may include the sourceDEA information in the request by reading it from the local DEAinformation storage 1420.

FIG. 18 shows an example operational flow of the event server 210 shownin FIG. 14 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In theexample shown in FIG. 18, the event server 210 performs the operationsfrom S1801 to S1805, but the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 is notlimited to using this operational flow. Also, the operational flow inFIG. 18 may be performed by a modified server or a different server thatdiffers from the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14.

First, the event server 210 receives a dynamic event agent generationrequest and accompanying source DEA information from an event server 210of another region (S1801). For example, the DEA generating section 1442of the DEA management section 1440 of an event agent EA1A (final “A”signifying region A for the purpose of this description) executed by theevent server 210 in the subsystem 200 assigned to region A may receive,via the communication section 1410, the dynamic event agent generationrequest and accompanying source DEA information from a dynamic eventserver DEA1B executed by an event server 210 in the subsystem 200assigned to region B (next to region A). The transmitting of the requestand source DEA information from DEA1B may be the result of DEA1Bperforming the operational flow of FIG. 17. In other words, it may havebeen determined that the dynamic event handled by DEA1B has a highprobability of affecting region A.

Next, the event server 210 determines whether a dynamic event agenthaving a high degree of association with the dynamic event of therequest already exists in the event server 210 (S1802). For example, theDEA generating section 1442 may consult the local DEA informationstorage 1420, which contains information of each existing local dynamicevent agent, i.e. those within the event server 210 or subsystem 200 andassigned to the same region A. To determine the degree of association,the DEA generating section 1442 may, for example, compare the dynamicevent of the request with the types of dynamic events handled byexisting local dynamic event agents and the generation timestamps ofthose dynamic event agents. The DEA generating section 1442 may furthercompare the received DEA source information, including the timestamp ofthe source DEA, with the source DEA information stored in the local DEAinformation storage 1420. If it is determined that a dynamic event agentwith a high degree of association already exists, the operational flowof FIG. 18 proceeds to step S1805. If not, the operational flow proceedsto step S1803.

If it is determined that a dynamic event agent with a high degree ofassociation with the dynamic event of the request does not already existin step S1802, the event server 210 generates a new dynamic event agentand assigns the dynamic event of the request to the new dynamic eventagent (S1803). For example, the DEA generating section 1442 of the eventserver 210 may generate the new dynamic event agent and update thecontents of the local DEA information storage 1420 to reflect theexistence of the new dynamic event agent. The DEA generating section1442 may store the source DEA information received with the requesttogether with the information about the new dynamic event agent in thelocal DEA information storage 1420. Thus, the event server 210 generatesthe new dynamic event agent upon receipt of the request if a dynamicevent agent for handling the dynamic event has not yet been generated bythe subsystem of the event server 210.

Lastly, the event server 210 registers the new dynamic event agent withthe source DEA (S1804). For example, upon the generation of the newdynamic event agent, the DEA info I/O section 1456 of the new dynamicevent agent may read the source DEA information stored in the local DEAinformation storage 1420 and register the new dynamic event agent (e.g.DEA ID or address information unique to specific dynamic event agent ofspecific subsystem) with the source DEA indicated by the received sourceDEA information. The registration may be transmitted via thecommunication section 1410 to be stored in the DEA registry 1457 of thesource DEA. The source DEA may be different from the dynamic event agentthat sent the request and accompanying source DEA info. In this way, newdynamic event agents generated as a result of DEA generation requestsare registered with the source DEA.

On the other hand, if it is determined that a dynamic event agent with ahigh degree of association with the dynamic event agent of the requestalready exists in step S1802, the event server 210 does not need togenerate a new dynamic event agent and instead denies the request byreturning information about the already-existing dynamic event agent(existing DEA information) and corresponding source DEA information tothe event server 210 that sent the request (S1805). For example, upondiscovering a dynamic event agent with a high degree of association inthe local DEA information storage 1420, the DEA generating section 1442may transmit information of the existing DEA (e.g. DEA ID or addressinformation unique to specific dynamic event agent of specificsubsystem) and information of the corresponding source DEA to thedynamic event agent that sent the denied request. The information may betransmitted via the communication section 1410 to the dynamic eventagent that sent the denied request for further processing.

FIG. 19 shows an example operational flow of a dynamic event agentexecuted by the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 according to anembodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 19,the event server 210 executes the dynamic event agent DEA1 to performthe operations from S1901 to S1906, but the event server 210 and dynamicevent agent shown in FIG. 14 are not limited to using this operationalflow. Also, the operational flow in FIG. 19 may be performed by amodified server/agent or a different server/agent that differs from theevent server 210 and DEA1 shown in FIG. 14.

First, DEA1 receives existing DEA information from an event server 210of another region (S1901). For example, the DEA info I/O section 1456 ofDEA1A (executed by the event server 210 in the subsystem 200 assigned toregion A) may receive, via the communication section 1410, informationabout an existing DEA1B handling the same dynamic event for the eventserver 210 in the subsystem 200 assigned to region B, along withassociated source DEA info of DEA1B. The transmitting of the existingDEA information from DEA1B to DEA1A may be the result of DEA1Bperforming step S1805 of FIG. 18 (in response to DEA1B performing theoperational flow of FIG. 17). In other words, after determining that thedynamic event handled by DEA1A has a high probability of affectingregion B, DEA1A may have transmitted a DEA generation request to anevent server 210 in the subsystem 200 assigned to region B. The eventserver 210 in the subsystem 200 assigned to region B may have denied therequest because of the prior existence of DEA1B handling the samedynamic event and returned existing DEA information about DEA1B andassociated source DEA info to DEA1A.

Next, DEA1A re-determines the source DEA of the dynamic event handled byDEA1A (S1902). For example, upon the receipt by DEA1A of existing DEAinformation from an event server 210 of another region, the source DEAdetermining section 1458 of DEA1A may determine whether the source DEAinformation stored in the local DEA information storage 1420 withrespect to DEA1A should be changed to the dynamic event agent indicatedby the source DEA information of the received existing DEA information.The received existing DEA information, including source DEA information,may, for example, be provided to the source DEA determining section 1458by the DEA info I/O section 1456 upon receipt, and the source DEAdetermining section 1458 may compare the generation timestamp of thereceived information with that of the source DEA information stored inthe local DEA information storage 1420. If the source DEA determiningsection 1458 determines that the source DEA should be updated, thesource DEA determining section 1458 may update the contents of the localDEA information storage 1420 to reflect the updated source DEA.

Next, DEA1 determines whether the source DEA has been updated (S1903).If it is determined that the source DEA has been updated, DEA1Adetermines whether the local DEA (i.e. DEA1A) was the previous sourceDEA (S1904). For example, the DEA info I/O section 1456 of DEA1A maydetermine whether the source DEA has been updated and, if so, whetherthe local DEA was the previous source DEA, on the basis of a change inthe source DEA information stored in the local DEA information storage1420. If it is determined that the source DEA has been updated and thatthe local DEA was the previous source DEA in steps S1903 and S1904, itmeans that the local DEA (i.e. DEA1A) has been demoted from source DEA.Therefore, in this case, DEA1A, e.g. DEA info I/O section 1456,transfers the contents of the DEA registry 1457 (which is maintainedonly by the source DEA) to the new source DEA (S1905) and may delete thelocal copy of the contents from its own DEA registry 1457. If, on theother hand, it is determined that the source DEA has been updated andthat the local DEA was not the previous source DEA in steps S1903 andS1904, then it means that DEA1A does not maintain the DEA registry 1457.Therefore, step S1905 is bypassed. In either case, as long as it isdetermined that the source DEA has been updated, the operational flowproceeds to step S1906.

Lastly, if it is determined that the source DEA has been updated, DEA1Aregisters itself with the new source DEA (S1906). For example, the DEAinfo I/O section 1456 may read the updated source DEA information storedin the local DEA information storage 1420 and register DEA1A (e.g. DEAID or address information unique to specific dynamic event agent ofspecific subsystem) with the source DEA indicated by the updated sourceDEA information. The registration may be transmitted via thecommunication section 1410 to be stored or added in the DEA registry1457 of the source DEA (whose other contents may also have been newlytransferred to the source DEA in step S1905). In this way, when a newsource DEA is determined, the dynamic event agents communicate toappropriately reestablish the DEA registry 1457 and reduce duplicatecopies of registry contents.

In the above example operational flows of FIGS. 17-19, the determinationor re-determination of the source DEA is only shown as occurring at stepS1902, after a dynamic event agent that sent a generation requestreceives existing DEA information from the recipient of the request.However, the determination or re-determination of the source DEA is notlimited to this situation and may occur any time a dynamic event agentreceives DEA information from another subsystem for any reason,including when a dynamic event agent receives DEA information along witha generation request, e.g. after step S1801 in FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 shows an example operational flow of a dynamic event agentexecuted by the event server 210 shown in FIG. 14 according to anembodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 20,the event server 210 executes the dynamic event agent DEA1 to performthe operations from S2001 to S2007, but the event server 210 and dynamicevent agent shown in FIG. 14 are not limited to using this operationalflow. Also, the operational flow in FIG. 20 may be performed by amodified server/agent or a different server/agent that differs from theevent server 210 and DEA1 shown in FIG. 14.

First, DEA1 monitors the dynamic event in the region to which the eventserver 210 is assigned (S2001) and determines whether the event is stilloccurring in the region (S2002). For example, the DEA eliminatingsection 1459 of DEA1 may monitor the contents of the dynamic eventstatus storage 1451 to see whether any dynamic event content stillremains or whether the severity of any remaining dynamic event contenthas fallen below a threshold. If the dynamic event is still occurring,the operational flow returns to step S2001. If not, it is furtherdetermined whether the local DEA (i.e. DEA1) is the source DEA (S2003).For example, the DEA eliminating section 1459 may determine whether thelocal DEA is the source DEA by consulting the local DEA informationstorage 1420, which stores information about the source DEA for eachdynamic event agent of the subsystem 200. If it is determined that thelocal DEA is the source DEA at step S2003, the flow proceeds to stepS2005. If it is determined that the local DEA is not the source DEA atstep S2003, the flow proceeds to step S2004.

If it is determined that the local DEA is not the source DEA at stepS2003, then DEA1, for example the eliminating section 1459, waits toreceive a notification from the source DEA indicating that the event isno longer occurring in the region of the source DEA, or checks to see ifsuch a notification has already been received (S2004). Once thenotification has been received, DEA1 eliminates itself and sends anotification of the elimination of DEA1 to the source DEA (S2007). Forexample, the eliminating section 1459 may consult the local DEAinformation storage 1420 to determine the source DEA, send thenotification to the source DEA via the communication section 1410 to bereceived by the eliminating section 1459 of the source DEA, delete theentry for DEA1 in the local DEA information storage 1420, and removeDEA1 completely from the event server 210 so that it can no longer beexecuted and does not use system resources.

If, on the other hand, it is determined that the local DEA is the sourceDEA at step S2003, it means that the local DEA (i.e. DEA1) isresponsible for initiating the process of eliminating dynamic eventagents associated with the dynamic event. In this case, DEA1 issues anotification to the event servers of all dynamic event agents in the DEAregistry 1457 that the event is no longer occurring in the region of thesource DEA (S2004). For example, the eliminating section 1459 maytransmit the notification to all dynamic event agents in the DEAregistry 1457 via the communication section 1410 to be received by theDEA eliminating sections 1459 of each dynamic event agent in the DEAregistry 1457. Then, DEA1 waits until all dynamic event agents in theDEA registry 1457 have been eliminated (S2005). For example, theeliminating section 1459 may wait until it has received, from alldynamic event agents in the DEA registry 1457, notifications of the typetransmitted by dynamic event agents that are not the source DEA in stepS2004. Once it is determined that all dynamic event agents in the DEAregistry 1457 have been eliminated, DEA 1 eliminates itself (S2007). Forexample, the eliminating section 1459 may delete the entry for DEA1 inthe local DEA information storage 1420 and remove DEA1 completely fromthe event server 210 so that it can no longer be executed and does notuse system resources.

FIG. 21 shows example contents of the dynamic event status storage 1451of a dynamic event agent, which stores dynamic event information aboutthe dynamic event handled by the dynamic event agent. In the example ofFIG. 21, the dynamic event handled by the dynamic event agent is ahurricane having a dynamic event ID of D0001. The dynamic event ID is anidentifier for the dynamic event that is unique with respect to allexisting dynamic events. Each of the remaining rows of the tablerepresents an item of dynamic event content related to the dynamicevent. The combination of Area ID, Edge ID, and Location columnsindicates the geographic location of an item of dynamic event contentwithin the region assigned to the subsystem 200 whose event server 210executes the dynamic event agent, and the last column indicates thedetails of the dynamic event content at that geographic location.Dynamic event content in all areas of the region are included in thedynamic event status storage 1451.

FIG. 22 shows example contents of the local DEA information storage 1420of an event server 210 executing a plurality of dynamic event agents (atleast DEA1A, DEA2A, and DEA3A as shown in the Local DEA column). The DEAinformation storage 1420 acts as a record of all existing dynamic eventagents within the subsystem 200 to which the event server 210 belongs,each represented by an entry in the Local DEA column. For each dynamicevent agent, stored information may include, as shown, a dynamic eventID, an indication of the type of the dynamic event (e.g. hurricane,collision, fire, etc.), a timestamp indicating when the dynamic eventagent was generated, a Local Status indicator (e.g. “active” or“ended”), which refers to the status of the dynamic event in the region,and a record of the Source DEA for the dynamic event along with itstimestamp. For example, as can be understood from the table of FIG. 22,DEA1A is the source DEA for D0001, while DEA2A is not the source DEA forD0002. DEA2A may have been generated at the request of DEA2B or anotherdynamic event agent, or may have been generated on the basis of adynamic event score calculated locally, initially presumed to be thesource DEA, and then later demoted when the source DEA wasre-determined.

FIG. 23 shows example contents of the DEA registry 1457 of a dynamicevent agent. The DEA registry 1457 shown in FIG. 23 contains threeentries, DEA1A, DEA1B, and DEA1E, each representing an external dynamicevent agent, that is, one that is executed by an event server 210 of asubsystem 200 assigned to a region different from the region of thedynamic event agent having the DEA registry 1457. The dynamic eventagent whose DEA registry 1457 is shown in FIG. 23 may be, for example,DEA1C, in a subsystem 200 assigned to region C. The DEA registry 1457need only be maintained by the source DEA and acts as a record ofexisting dynamic event agents for the same dynamic event.

FIGS. 24A-C show a series of communications between and resulting statesof dynamic event agents handling a dynamic event. Each of regions A-D isa geographic region handled by a different subsystem 200 of the system100 shown in FIG. 1. Above some of the regions A-D is depicted a dynamicevent agent (e.g. “Region B DEA”). Each of these dynamic event agents isexecuted by an event server 210 of the subsystem 200 assigned to therespective region, and the naming of the dynamic event agent reflectsthe region to which it is assigned. For example, “Region B DEA” refersto a dynamic event agent executed by an event server 210 of thesubsystem 200 assigned to region B. Only a single dynamic event isdescribed with respect to FIGS. 24A-C, with each of the depicted dynamicevent agents handling the dynamic event within its respective region.“Region C DEA*” is indicated with an asterisk “*” to indicate that thisdynamic event server is the source DEA for the dynamic event.

FIG. 24A illustrates a state after “Region C DEA*” has issued DEAgeneration requests to event servers 210 of the subsystems 200 assignedto regions B and D, as in step S1704 of FIG. 17. Since receiving therequests, event agents executed by the event servers 210 of regions Band D have generated “Region B DEA” and “Region D DEA,” respectively, asin step S1803 of FIG. 18. The newly registered “Region B DEA” and“Region D DEA” have registered themselves with “Region C DEA*,” which isthe source DEA, as in step S1804 of FIG. 18. The information of “RegionB DEA” and “Region D DEA” is stored in the DEA registry 1457 of “RegionC DEA*.”

FIG. 24B illustrates a state after the state shown in FIG. 24A and after“Region B DEA” has issued a DEA generation request to an event server210 of the subsystem 200 assigned to region A, as in step S1704 of FIG.17. Since receiving the request, an event agent executed by the eventserver 210 of region A has generated “Region A DEA” as in step S1803 ofFIG. 18. The newly generated “Region A DEA” has registered itself with“Region C DEA*,” which is the source DEA, as in step S1804 of FIG. 18.The information of “Region A DEA” is stored in the DEA registry 1457 of“Region C DEA*.” In a state after the communications of FIGS. 24A and B,the DEA registry 1457 of “Region C DEA*” may look similar to the DEAregistry 1457 shown in FIG. 23, with DEA1A, DEA1B, and DEA1Dcorresponding to “Region A DEA,” “Region B DEA,” and “Region D DEA.” Theregistered information may be a DEA1D or address information unique tothe specific dynamic event agent of the specific subsystem.

Lastly, FIG. 24C illustrates a state after the state shown in FIG. 24B,after the dynamic event has stopped occurring in regions A and D, andafter “Region C DEA*” has issued notifications to the event servers ofall dynamic event agents in the registry 1457 that the dynamic event isno longer occurring in region C, which is the region of the source DEA,as in step S2005 of FIG. 20. These notifications are depicted as“Notify” in FIG. 24C. After receiving the notification from “Region CDEA*,” since the dynamic event has stopped occurring in regions A and D,“Region A DEA” and “Region D DEA” have eliminated themselves andnotified “Region C DEA*,” which is the source DEA, of their elimination,as in steps S2004 and S2007 of FIG. 20. The dashed ovals representing“Region A DEA” and “Region D DEA” signify that these dynamic eventagents have been eliminated. Meanwhile, while “Region B DEA” hasreceived the notification from “Region C DEA*,” “Region B DEA” has noteliminated itself because the dynamic event is still occurring in regionB. Therefore, “Region B DEA” will continue to monitor the dynamic eventin region B as in steps S2001 and S2001 of FIG. 20. “Region C DEA*,” thesource DEA, is also not eliminated, even though the dynamic event hasstopped occurring in region C. “Region C DEA*” will continue to waituntil all dynamic event agents in the registry 1457 have beeneliminated, as in step S2006 of FIG. 20, before eliminating itself.

FIG. 25 shows an exemplary configuration of the system 100, according toan embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, eachsubsystem 200 includes an event server 210, mobile object server 220, anobject server 230, and a passenger server 240. However, otherembodiments are also possible, in which each subsystem 200 comprises anycombination of singles or multiples of each server. In otherembodiments, the system 100 may manage allocation of object agents ofthe object server 230 and passenger agents of the passenger server 240in the subsystem 200. For example, the gateway apparatus 160 may changeallocation of the object/passenger agents to the subsystems 200 torectify the imbalance of data processing loads among the subsystems 200.

In the embodiment described above, the event server 210 may manageallocated event agents. In other embodiments, the system 100 may manageallocation of event agents to the event servers 210. For example, thegateway apparatus 160 may change allocation of event agents to the eventservers 210 to rectify the imbalance of loads of processing events amongthe event servers 210. In the embodiment described above, the eventserver 210 causes each event agent to manage allocated divided areaderived from a region. In other embodiment, the event server 210 causesat least one event agent to manage specific information regarding events(e.g., cross section of roads or other specific function(s) of a map,or, hurricane or other disaster/accident).

As can be understood from this disclosure, the embodiments of thepresent invention can be used to realize a system for managinggeographic space and moving objects thereon. Moreover, the system canefficiently process large-scale events that affect a plurality ofregions through the execution of dynamic event agents.

FIG. 26 shows an example of a computer 2600 in which the system 100 andthe operational flows of FIG. 2, the operational flows of FIGS. 6-8, 13,and 15-20, and/or other embodiments of the claimed invention may bewholly or partly embodied. The computer 2600 according to the presentembodiment includes a CPU 2612, a RAM 2614, a graphics controller 2616,and a display device 2618, which are mutually connected by a hostcontroller 2610. The computer 2600 also includes input/output units suchas a communication interface 2622, a hard disk drive 2624, and a DVD-ROMdrive 2626, which are connected to the host controller 2610 via aninput/output controller 2620. The computer also includes legacyinput/output units such as a ROM 2630 and a keyboard 1042, which isconnected to the input/output controller 2620 through an input/outputchip 1040.

The host controller 2610 connects the RAM 2614 with the CPU 2612 and thegraphics controller 2616, which access the RAM 2614 at a high transferrate. The CPU 2612 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 2630and the RAM 2614, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller2616 obtains image data generated by the CPU 2612 on a frame buffer orthe like provided in the RAM 2614, and causes the image data to bedisplayed on the display device 2618. Alternatively, the graphicscontroller 2616 may contain therein a frame buffer or the like forstoring image data generated by the CPU 2612.

The input/output controller 2620 connects the host controller 2610 withthe communication interface 2622, the hard disk drive 2624, and theDVD-ROM drive 2626, which are relatively high-speed input/output units.The communication interface 2622 communicates with other electronicdevices via a network. The hard disk drive 2624 stores programs and dataused by the CPU 2612 within the computer 2600. The DVD-ROM drive 2626reads the programs or the data from the DVD-ROM 2601, and provides thehard disk drive 2624 with the programs or the data via the RAM 2614.

The ROM 2630 and the keyboard 2642 and the input/output chip 2640, whichare relatively low-speed input/output units, are connected to theinput/output controller 2620. The ROM 2630 stores therein a boot programor the like executed by the computer 2600 at the time of activation, aprogram depending on the hardware of the computer 2600. The keyboard2642 inputs text data or commands from a user, and may provide the harddisk drive 2624 with the text data or the commands via the RAM 2614. Theinput/output chip 2640 connects the keyboard 2642 to the input/outputcontroller 2620, and may connect various input/output units via aparallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, and thelike to the input/output controller 2620.

A program to be stored on the hard disk drive 2624 via the RAM 2614 isprovided by a recording medium such as the DVD-ROM 2601 or an IC card.The program is read from the recording medium, installed into the harddisk drive 2624 within the computer 2600 via the RAM 2614, and executedin the CPU 2612.

A program that is installed in the computer 2600 can cause the computer2600 to function as a system or apparatus such as the system 100 of FIG.1 or any of its components, such as the region manager 140 or any of thesubsystems 200 or event servers 210 as shown, for example, in FIGS. 1,3, 14, and 25. Such a program may act on the CPU 2612 to cause thecomputer 2600 to function as some or all of the sections, components,elements, databases, etc. of the system 100 (e.g., the DEA generatingsection 1442 of an event agent executed by the event server 210 as shownin FIG. 14, the DEA eliminating section 1459 of the dynamic event agentexecuted by the event server 210 as shown in FIG. 14, etc.).

A program that is installed in the computer 2600 can also cause thecomputer 2600 to perform an operational flow such as the operationalflow of FIG. 6-8, 13, or 15-20. Such a program may act on the CPU 2612to cause the computer 2600 to perform some or all of the steps of FIG.6-8, 13, or 15-20 (e.g., generate source DEA as in S1504 of FIG. 15,eliminate local DEA as in S2007 of FIG. 20, etc.).

The information processing described in these programs is read into thecomputer 2600, resulting in the cooperation between a program and theabove-mentioned various types of hardware resources. An apparatus ormethod may be constituted by realizing the operation or processing ofinformation in accordance with the usage of the computer 2600.

For example, when communication is performed between the computer 2600and an external device, the CPU 2612 may execute a communication programloaded onto the RAM 2614 to instruct communication processing to thecommunication interface 2622, based on the processing described in thecommunication program.

The communication interface 2622, under control of the CPU 2612, readstransmission data stored on a transmission buffering region provided ina recording medium such as the RAM 2614, the hard disk drive 2624, orthe DVD-ROM 2601, and transmits the read transmission data to a networkor writes reception data received from a network to a receptionbuffering region or the like provided on the recording medium. In thisway, the communication interface 2622 may exchangetransmission/reception data with a recording medium by a DMA (directmemory access) method or by a configuration in which the CPU 2612 readsthe data from the recording medium or the communication interface 2622of a transfer destination and writes the data into the communicationinterface 2622 or the recording medium of the transfer destination, soas to transfer the transmission/reception data.

In addition, the CPU 2612 may cause all or a necessary portion of a fileor a database to be read into the RAM 2614 such as by DMA transfer, thefile or the database having been stored in an external recording mediumsuch as the hard disk drive 2624, the DVD-ROM drive 2626 (DVD-ROM 2601)and perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 2614. TheCPU 2612 may then write back the processed data to the externalrecording medium by means of a DMA transfer method or the like. In suchprocessing, the RAM 2614 can be considered to temporarily store thecontents of the external recording medium, and so the RAM 2614, theexternal recording apparatus, and the like are collectively referred toas a memory, a storage section, a recording medium, a computer readablemedium, etc.

Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data,tables, and databases, may be stored in the recording apparatus toundergo information processing. Note that the CPU 2612 may also use apart of the RAM 2614 to perform reading/writing thereto on a cachememory. In such an embodiment, the cache is considered to be containedin the RAM 2614, the memory, and/or the recording medium unless notedotherwise, since the cache memory performs part of the function of theRAM 2614.

The CPU 2612 may perform various types of processing on the data readfrom the RAM 2614, which includes various types of operations,processing of information, condition judging, search/replace ofinformation, etc., as described throughout this disclosure anddesignated by an instruction sequence of programs, and writes the resultback to the RAM 2614. For example, when performing condition judging,the CPU 2612 may judge whether each type of variable is larger, smaller,no smaller than, no greater than, or equal to the other variable orconstant, and when the condition judging results in the affirmative (orin the negative), the process branches to a different instructionsequence or calls a subroutine.

In addition, the CPU 2612 may search for information in a file, adatabase, etc., in the recording medium. For example, when a pluralityof entries, each having an attribute value of a first attribute isassociated with an attribute value of a second attribute, are stored ina recording apparatus, the CPU 2612 may search for an entry matching thecondition whose attribute value of the first attribute is designated,from among the plurality of entries stored in the recording medium, andreads the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry,thereby obtaining the attribute value of the second attribute associatedwith the first attribute satisfying the predetermined condition.

The above-explained program or module may be stored in an externalrecording medium. Exemplary recording mediums include a DVD-ROM 2601, aswell as an optical recording medium such as a Blu-ray Disk or a CD, amagneto-optic recording medium such as a MO, a tape medium, and asemiconductor memory such as an IC card. In addition, a recording mediumsuch as a hard disk or a RAM provided in a server system connected to adedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as arecording medium, thereby providing the program to the computer 1000 viathe network.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readablestorage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, ahard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a staticrandom access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk,a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structuresin a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitablecombination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, asused herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se,such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves,electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or othertransmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-opticcable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server.

In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to theuser's computer through any type of network, including a local areanetwork (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may bemade to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using anInternet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitryincluding, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmablegate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in acomputer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, aprogrammable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to functionin a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage mediumhaving instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufactureincluding instructions which implement aspects of the function/actspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s).

In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blockmay occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocksshown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry outcombinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

While the embodiment(s) of the present invention has (have) beendescribed, the technical scope of the invention is not limited to theabove described embodiment(s). It is apparent to persons skilled in theart that various alterations and improvements can be added to theabove-described embodiment(s). It is also apparent from the scope of theclaims that the embodiments added with such alterations or improvementscan be included in the technical scope of the invention.

The operations, procedures, steps, and stages of each process performedby an apparatus, system, program, and method shown in the claims,embodiments, or diagrams can be performed in any order as long as theorder is not indicated by “prior to,” “before,” or the like and as longas the output from a previous process is not used in a later process.Even if the process flow is described using phrases such as “first” or“next” in the claims, embodiments, or diagrams, it does not necessarilymean that the process must be performed in this order.

1. A computer system for managing events in a plurality of geographicregions, the computer system comprising: one or more processors, one ormore computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangiblestorage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of theone or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one ormore processors via at least one of the one or more memories, theprogram instructions comprising program instructions to manage, by afirst subsystem, an event in a first region of the plurality ofgeographic regions using a first event agent; program instructions todetermine whether the event is predicted to spread from the first regionto a second region of the plurality or geographic regions; based ondetermining that the event is predicted to spread from the first regionto the second region, program instructions to generate a first dynamicevent agent to monitor the event as a dynamic event, wherein the firstdynamic event agent comprises: program instructions to receiveinformation relating to the dynamic event; program instructions toupdate a status of the dynamic event based on the received information;and program instructions to transmit the received information; programinstructions to generate, by a second subsystem, a second dynamic eventagent for handling the dynamic event in the second region.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein determining that the event is predicted to leave thefirst region to the second region comprises program instructions todetermine if a calculated probability that the second region will beaffected by the dynamic event exceeds a threshold value.
 3. The systemof claim 1 further comprising program instructions to transmit, by thesecond subsystem, a signal based on information about the dynamic eventto a mobile object in the second region.
 4. The system of claim 3,wherein generating the second dynamic event agent comprises: receiving asignal based on generating the first dynamic event agent; and based onreceiving the signal, generating the second dynamic event agent forhandling the dynamic event in the second region.
 5. The system of claim3, wherein the second event server is operable to register the seconddynamic event agent with the first dynamic event agent.
 6. The system ofclaim 3, further comprising: program instructions to generate, by athird subsystem, a third dynamic event agent for handling the dynamicevent in the third region based on receiving a request issued by thesecond dynamic event agent.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the seconddynamic event agent issues the request to the third subsystem if acalculated probability that the third region will be affected by thedynamic event exceeds a threshold value.
 8. The system of claim 6,further comprising: program instructions to register the third dynamicevent agent with the first dynamic event agent; and program instructionsto transmit a signal based on information about the dynamic event to amobile object in the third region.
 9. The system of claim 3, furthercomprising: program instructions to maintain, by the first subsystem, aregistry of all dynamic event agents that have been generated forhandling the dynamic event; program instructions to issue, to allsubsystems of the plurality of subsystems having a dynamic event agentin the registry, a notification that the dynamic event is no longeroccurring in the first region; and based on receiving the notificationthat the dynamic event is no longer occurring, program instructions toeliminate, by the second subsystem, the second dynamic event agent. 10.The system of claim 9, wherein the second dynamic event servereliminates the second dynamic event agent when the dynamic event is nolonger occurring in the second region after receipt of the notificationby the second subsystem.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein programinstructions to notify the first subsystem, by the second subsystem,when the second dynamic event agent is eliminated; and programinstructions to eliminate the first dynamic event agent when the dynamicevent is no longer occurring in the first region and all dynamic eventagents that were generated for handling the dynamic event have beeneliminated.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein program instructions fora second event agent, in the second subsystem, for handling events thatoccur in the second region; and program instructions to receive, by thesecond dynamic event agent, information relating to an event from amobile object in the second region, update a status of the seconddynamic event based on the information if the received informationrelates to the second dynamic event, and forward the receivedinformation to the second event agent if the received informationrelates to an event other than the second dynamic event.
 13. The systemof claim 1, wherein the first event server is operable to generate thefirst dynamic event agent before occurrence of the dynamic event basedon statistical information about occurrence of events in the firstregion.
 14. The system of claim 1 further comprising: programinstructions to, by the first dynamic event agent, estimate trafficcongestion of a vehicle route in the first region caused by the dynamicevent; and program instructions to transmit information about theestimated traffic congestion.
 15. The system of claim 2 furthercomprising: program instructions to estimate traffic congestion, by afirst dynamic event agent, of a vehicle route in the first region causedby the dynamic event; and program instructions to calculate, based onthe estimated traffic congestion, the probability that the second regionwill be affected by the dynamic event.
 16. The system of claim 1,wherein the dynamic event is a weather pattern, a fire, or a trafficcondition.
 17. A method comprising: managing, by a first subsystem, anevent in a first region of the plurality of geographic regions using afirst event agent; determining whether the event is predicted to spreadfrom the first region to a second region of the plurality or geographicregions; based on determining that the event is predicted spread fromthe first region to the second region, generating a first dynamic eventagent to monitor the event as a dynamic event, wherein the first dynamicevent agent comprises: receiving information relating to the dynamicevent; updating a status of the dynamic event based on the receivedinformation; and transmitting the received information; generating, by asecond subsystem, a second dynamic event agent for handling the dynamicevent in the second region.
 18. A computer program product including anon-transitory computer readable storage medium having programinstructions stored therein, comprising: program instructions to manage,by a first subsystem, an event in a first region of the plurality ofgeographic regions using a first event agent; program instructions todetermine whether the event is predicted to spread from the first regionto a second region of the plurality or geographic regions; based ondetermining that the event is predicted to spread from the first regionto the second region, program instructions to generate a first dynamicevent agent to monitor the event as a dynamic event, wherein the firstdynamic event agent comprises: program instructions to receiveinformation relating to the dynamic event; program instructions toupdate a status of the dynamic event based on the received information;and program instructions to transmit the received information; programinstructions to generate, by a second subsystem, a second dynamic eventagent for handling the dynamic event in the second region.